Suction cleaner



Dec. 14, 1943.

J. P. WIED SUCTION CLEANER Fil'ed March 16, 1942 92/1/05 P W/ED INVENTOR fi EY.

' Patented Dec. 14, 1943 2,336,710 SUCTION CLEANER Julius P. Wied, East Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to The Apex Electrical M Cleveland, Ohio, a c

anufacturing Company, orporation of Ohio Application March 16, 1942, Serial No. 434,839

2 Claims.

This invention relates to suction cleaners and more particularly, to the brush mounting for a suction cleaner. Numerous expedients have been advanced to provide for the adjustment of a rotary brush for a suction cleaner.

tions in bristle length due to wear on bristles.

The brush for a suction cleaner is usually driven by a flexible belt running from the motor or power unit of the cleaner to a pulley carried by the rotary brush. The brush is designed to operate on the surface undergoing cleaning through a suction mouth or like opening in the bottom of the cleaner. The brush to be effective should maintain its vertical alignment with the opening in the bottom of the cleaner throughout its adjustment and should also maintain proper belt alignment with the power unit. Among the expedients heretofore employed to adjust the brush are eccentric devices which may be rotated about a center to raise and lower the brush with respect to the opening in the bottom of 'the suction cleaner.

It will be understood that the rotating of an eccentric adjusting device about its center. in addition to raising and lowering the brush body, also brings about a fore and aft movement of the brush within the cleaner so that the cleaner brush axis shifts longitudinally with respect to the opening between the brush and the surface undergoing cleaning. Other expedients for adjusting the brush have included brush holders mounted in vertical guideways in the cleaner body so that the brush may be adjusted vertically with respect to the opening in the bottom of the cleaner without any attendant fore and aft movement. The latter type of adjusting device usually includes a screw threaded adjustment which is. costly to manufacture and involves such difiiculties of manual control that they do not meet with favorable, acceptance by the domestic user. I

It is among the objects of my invention to provide a brush adjustment which will not disturb the fore and aft relationship of the brush with the suction cleaner body and which will be simple and inexpensive to make and use and which will provide the additional advantages of quietness and long life.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a brush mounting-according to the preceding object in which the brush is resiliently insulated with respect to the cleaner body so as to prevent the transmission of the-vibration or noise occasioned by brush rotation from being transmitted to the cleaner body.

It is a further away showing a brush mounted according to my I invention in a cleaner body;

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the plane 22 of Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective forming a part of the brush cording to my invention;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a bearing and rubber block assembly forming a part of a mounting made according to my invention;

Figure5 is an elevation showing the relationship between bracket and rubber block with the brush in its lowermost position;

Figure 6 is an elevation showing the relationship of the parts with the brush in its maxi mum raised position;

Figure 7 is an elevation with parts in section of the rubber block and bearing assembly;

Figure 8 is a modified form of adjustable bearing block made according to my invention; and

Figure 9 is a perspective view with parts in section showing the modified form of Fig. 8 assembled in a cleaner body.

Referring to the drawing, 6 indicates the forward View of a bracket mounting made acextending the full length of the brush, which opening permits the brush to effect the cleaning action on a rug or like surface.

It will be understood that in additionto the beating or brushing action of the brush, air, dust, lint and the like is moved upwardly into the cleaner nozzle through the opening 9.

According to my invention, the brush throughout its range of adjustment is raised and lowered with its aXis maintained in the plane indicated by the line I 0 so that the relationship between the suction mouth or like opening at 9 is not disturbed by any fore and aft movement of the brush.

The brush unit 1 includes a pulley H adapted to be driven by a flat belt connected to the motor or power unit. The cylindrical portions of the brush body on each side of the pulley l I are .provided with spiral bristle units l2, which efiec tively beat and brush the surface undergoing cleaning. The body of the suction cleaner is provided at each end of the brush with a bracket element l5, This bracket may be made of a stamping or the like and is shaped to provide opposed complementary block receiving tracks IS. The upper edge of the U-shaped bracket I is provided with a tongue or tab H which is designed to limit the upward movement of a square resilient block l8. Preferably three sides of the square are notched as at H), 20 and 22 and the fourth side of the square, indicated at 2|, is unnotched. The notches I9, 20 and 22 vary in depth and are proportioned so as to embrace the tab I! designed to limit the upward movement of the rubber block in the bracket l5.

The bottom of the notch I9 is provided with a groove or similar indicia which would be observable from the underside of the cleaner (Figs. 2 and 5) and indicates when so exposed that the unnotched side 2| of the block is positioned against the tongue I! of the bracket. This may be referred to as the number one or low position of the brush.

A bronze bearing 30 is centrally apertured to receive a shaft or pin on the axis of the brush and said bronze bearing 30 is carried by the rubber block l8 and thus the position of the brush with respect to the suction mouth is determined by the selected position of the rubber block in the bracket 15. Fig. 5 shows the number one position where the rubber block abuts the tongue l1 to expose the groove in notch IS. The next higher position of adjustment is obtained by sliding the rubber blocks downwardly out of bracket l5 and rotating the blocks 90 degrees and then reinserting the blocks within the bracket l5. This would position the notch 22 against the tongue H. The' last-named position will expose the notch 20 having the two grooves indicating the number two position of the adjustment. The number three or next higher position of the brush is obtained by again removing the blocks and turning the blocks 90 degrees to place the notch IS in engagement with the tongue l1. This last-named position exposes the three grooves on side 2| to indicate to the user that the number three position is obtained. The maximum raised position is obtained, as shown in Fig. 6; by further rotating the block to a position in which notch 20 is in engagement with the tongue I1. This exposes notch 22 as shown in Fig. 6 to indicate four grooves showing the number four position has been obtained.

The adjustable mounting of the rubber hearing block in the cleaner body may also be obtained according to my invention by shaping the rubber block as shown in the modified form of the invention in Figs. 8 and 9. In this modification the block indicated at 40 is provided on its face adjacent the wall of the cleaner body with a pair of transverse intersecting grooves 4| and 42. The grooves are normal to the straight sides of the block and are unequally spaced from the corners of the block so as to bring about an intersection as at 43. The point 43 is coincident with the horizontal axis of the bearing pin axis indicated at 44 in Fig. 9.

The cleaner body indicated at 45 is preferably provided with an integrally cast-shoulder 46 and a vertical rib 41. The shoulder or abutment 48 functions to limit the upward movement within the nozzle of the blocks 40 similar to the function performed by the member [1 in the preferred embodiment and the rib 41 functions to guide the blocks vertically into position and maintain the'brush axis in all four positions of adjustment in the same vertical plane. In both forms of my invention it will be appreciated there are four side portions which are unequally spaced from the bearing pin axis. In the preferred form the unequal spacing with respect to the bearing pin axis is obtained by notches of unequal depth in a square block, whereas in the modified form, the sides of the block itself are employed for the abutment supporting function. It will be understood that upon removing the blocks 40 by sliding the brush outwardly from the cleaner body, the blocks may be turned and reinserted to obtain four different vertical positions, all in accordance with the description of the preferred form. The exposed edges ofthe blocks may be suitably grooved or marked as in the preferred form to indicate which position of adjustment is effected.

It will be appreciated that throughout the four adjustments above described, the axis of the brush is maintained in alignment with the suction opening and that there is no fore or 'aft movement of the brush. In addition to providing an adjustment for the brush, the rubber block effectively insulates the cleaner electrically from the brush so that the brush-developed static electricity is not transmitted to the cleaner body and that noise occasioned by the beating action of the brush is prevented from being carried to the cleaner body.

Although I have shown and described two forms of my invention in considerable detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that numerous modiflcationsmay be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A brush adjustment for a suction cleaner having a suction mouth comprising a pair of guideways arranged at right angles to the suction mouth and an abutment, a square block, bearing means carried centrally of the block, notches formed in a plurality of sides of said block, said notches varying in depth and being proportioned to embrace said abutment, whereby said block may be selectively turned and said notches moved to embrace said abutment and thereby vary the distance between said abutment and said bearing means.

2. A suction cleaner comprising a nozzle, a suction mouth and a rotary brush, means to mount the rotary brush in the nozzle above said suction mouth comprising a pair of complementary guideways substantially normal to the plane of the suction mouth and an abutment, a square bearing block adapted to be moved into said guideways and contact said abutment, a bearing mounting centrally of said block, a notch formed in one side of said block proportioned to embrace said abutment to vary the distance between said abutment and said-bearing mounting, whereby the distance between the brush and the suction mouth is varied without shifting the axis of the brush laterally of the suction mouth.

. JULIUS P. WIED. 

